Mo Daoust
After pining after Damian Knight for years, Lainey Kline has made a drastic choice: she will move to London and leave the man of her dreams in Melbourne, since he seems a lost cause. When she tells her best friends Imogen and Corinna of her plans, Corinna – Damian’s younger sister – confesses that she will crash a snazzy masquerade ball to spy on someone, and Damian will be attending the event; that’s when a little light shines in Lainey’s mind. A disguise is the perfect opportunity to have an anonymous fling with Damian and get him out of her system, if she can’t hope for more. UNMASKED is part of Harlequin’s new Dare line, I was curious to see how it fared, and who better than Stefanie London to try, whose writing is always impressive. I loved the light tone of the book, the delightful humour, the easy dialogues and the interactions between all the characters; it always felt genuine. The expected sexy moments are written with flair, lush sensuality, and flirtatious playfulness. The expected misunderstanding was taken care of swiftly, but better yet, it led to some soul-searching and much growth from Lainey and Damian. I was impressed with Lainey and Damian’s backstories, mostly his, and how solid the plot was. UNMASKED offers an in-depth character study, and it was an empowering story as well because Lainey is the one in control at all times. Not to say that Damian is a wimp, far from it; he is quite the alpha hero, but he never bullies his way into anything because he’s respectful of Lainey, and while she’s no pushover, she’s not aggressive either; all this made me so very happy. Stefanie London’s writing is, as usual, all lightness and grace, and her descriptions of Melbourne, the environment and architecture, and especially the ballroom where the masquerade takes place left me sighing and dreaming. I am very much looking forward to the next books in Melbourne after Dark, because UNMASKED was such a delightful book which showed that you can have substance along with the sizzle.
A Google user
Be enthralled by Stefanie London’s impeccable storyline, characters and whimsical type fairytale in Unmasked! Truly dived in blinded with Ms. London’s work as she is a new author for me and I have to say I am beyond pleased with this romance. I enjoyed the mystery, angst of a best friend’s brother forbidden romance, with a strong heroine who didn’t stop for what she wanted from the man she has lusted for. London’s writing was easy to read and captivating nonetheless. “He was her Prince Charming, her Mr. Darcy, the Harry to her Sally. The Danny to her Sandra Dee. The only guy who’d ever truly known her.” Can a mask really hide what’s underneath the surface? The emotions, temptations, desires that have been burning for years. But what happens when the truth is unveiled. Will it leave you feeling elated as you’ve wanted or miserable because of the deceit/lies that the boundary has been crossed? “You’ve made your bed--now you have to lie in it.” I would hope that Ms. London would continue onward with sequels of Lainey’s friends and within those we can get glimpses into Lainey and Damien’s world. I for one would like to see more of them. 4.5 Cinderella Stars Reviewed by Allyson, Late Night reviewer for Up All Night w/ Books Blog